


Things Are Changing

by bouquin



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Drama, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-01
Updated: 2011-09-01
Packaged: 2017-10-23 08:37:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/248361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bouquin/pseuds/bouquin





	Things Are Changing

It was an other miserable day at the orphanage for Sophia Maria Black. Sophia pouted prettily as she finished up her chores, scrubbing the toilets clean as punishment for levitating yet another girl for calling her a bitch – and what was worse was that it was an accident! She flipped her long ebony tresses over her shoulders as she began to scrub another section of the room. She was almost finished when the director of the orphanage, Ms. Stark, strode towards her. She looked even more grim than usual, and said, "You have a letter, Miss Black." As soon as she spoke, Ms. Stark walked out of the room, expecting Sophia to follow her. _A letter?_ Thought Sophia. _I never get any letters! I wonder who it must be from._

She followed Ms. Stark into her office, and sat in a chair in front of Ms. Stark's desk. Ms. Stark pulled out the letter from the desk drawer, and gave it to Sophia. "Who's it from?," Sophia asked, anxiously wondering who it could be from.

"You'll find out if you read it," Ms. Stark said simply, giving Sophia a withering look. Sophia opened the letter, which read:

 _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry  
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Student,  
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.  
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.  


 _Yours sincerely,  
Minerva McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress_

Puzzled, Sophia looked through the rest of the envelope in search of anything that would show that this was some sort of cruel joke. Instead, she found another piece of parchment which read:

 _Hogwarts School  
of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

UNIFORM  
First-year students will require:  
sets of plain work robes (black)  
plain pointed hat (black) for day wear  
pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)  
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS  
All students should have a copy of each of the following:  
 _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_ _by Miranda Goshawk  
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot  
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling  
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch  
_ _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore  
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger  
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander  
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

OTHER EQUIPMENT  
1 wand  
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)  
1 set glass or crystal phials  
1 telescope  
1 set brass scales

Students may also bring and owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS _  
_

Sophia looked at the letters in shock. Moments passed when she finally looked up at Ms. Stark and quietly said, "Is this real?"

Ms. Stark looked down at her and said, "Of course it's real! I don't think anyone would spend any amount of money sending you this just to pull your strings."

"Does this mean I'm...magical? I always _knew_ I was a little different, but I didn't think it meant anything."

"I don't know know or care what it means, only that you're out of my hair. Now if you don't mind, I have very important things to do that don't involve you." Ms. Stark motioned Sophia to leave. Sophia took the letters and walked back towards her room, toilet cleaning forgotten. She sat on her bed, rereading the letters, trying to wrap her head around what she had just read. _Could it be true? I really am magical?_ Sophia thought to herself. _This is just to good to be true._ Sophia, however, didn't have much time left to ponder her fate, when one of the servants stormed into her room and said, "You've got to finish scrubbing the toilets, ya know. It 'ent proper to leave it hanging. Be good about it and you might have it easy tonight."

With a sigh, Sophia slumped off the bed, hiding her letters under its mattress. Any ideas of her lineage would have to wait until the toilets were properly cleaned.

A week passed when there was a loud knock on the orphanage's front door. Sophia, who was in the front parlor at the time, opened the door. The knocker in question was a giant of a man, with a long, brown bushy beard. His clothes were shabby, and he carried an umbrella with him. He was reviewing a piece of parchment when Sophia asked, "Hello, sir. How may I help you? Are you here to see Ms. Stark?"

The giant looked down to where Sophia stood, and said, "No, but I am looking for a girl by the name of Sophia Black. Would you happen to know where she is?"

"She happens to be me, sir. Why do you ask?" Sophia was suspicious of this man. No one had so far even asked to look at her for the eleven years of her existence at Saint Kentigern's Children's Asylum. She was going to keep an eye on this man.

"Well, I'm 'ere to take you to Hogwarts! Well, first we're going to have to go to Diagon Alley to get yer supplies. 'Ave you packed?"

All Sophia could say to that was, "Oh." She didn't actually _think_ the whole 'Hogwarts' thing was real. Now there was real _proof_ that it was. She told the giant man to wait, and ran to her room to pack her things in her suitcase, and stuffed her Hogwarts letters in her coat pocket. She then went to Ms. Stark's office, knocking on her door. She was let in, and gave Ms. Stark a curt farewell. "Ms. Stark, I'm leaving. I don't know when I'll be back, but uh, I'm going to this Hogwarts school thing."

Ms. Stark only looked up from her daily planner and said, "That's wonderful. Have fun, dear."

Sophia, hoping she would have had a more dramatic fanfare as she left, went back towards the front parlor where the giant sat on one of the sofas, taking up all of its space. He saw her walking up and his face brightened. "Well, Sophia, we 'ad better get going then. School starts in a few days and we've got to get you all ready to go! The name's Rubeus Hagrid, by the way, but most just call me 'Agrid." He put out his hand, which Sophia shook. The pair walked out of the orphanage, Sophia never once looking back.

Diagon Alley was unlike any place Sophia had ever been or seen. There were people everywhere, and shops with strange names, everything just looked so odd! Sophia even said so, to which Hagrid replied with a heart laugh. "Well yer better get used to it, Sophia, since yer a part of it now." Even so, Sophia soaked in everything she saw. She and Hagrid went to Flourish and Blott's to pick up her books. Where Sophia was simply amazed at all of the magical books there was to be offered. She was looking at a book on charms when someone walked into her.

"I'm sorry I walked into you. I was just in a rush to get my books and I didn't see you." The person in question was a young boy around Sophia's age, with platinum blond hair and gray eyes.

"Oh, it's not problem. I'm Sophia Black by the way. I'll be starting at Hogwarts this year, and I'm so very excited. Who are you?"

The boy beamed and said, "I'm Draco Malfoy, and it will be my first year at Hogwarts as well. I hope I'll be in Slytherin; I'll die if I get sorted into Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. Ravenclaw wouldn't be too terrible." He stopped talking for a moment and had a look of recognition on his face as he looked at Sophia. "You said your last name was Black, correct?" Sophia nodded. "Are you by any chance related to the most ancient and noble house of Black, by any chance? You do look a lot like my aunt Bellatrix-"

Draco was interrupted as someone walked up them. He looked like an older version of Draco, only with longer hair and more elaborate clothes. He carried a cane with him, for what purpose Sophia had no idea. "Come Draco, we still have much shopping to do." He took Draco by the arm without so much as a glance at Sophia. As Draco was escorted out of the bookstore by his father, he gave Sophia a backwards glance before he and his father were surrounded by the crowd.

As Sophia and Hagrid were walking towards the Leaky Cauldron for lunch, Sophia was going over what the boy had told to her. She didn't think that 'Black' was an important name – it was pretty common, she believed. But that boy acted as if it was a name to respect! She asked Hagrid, "Who are the Blacks?" Hagrid looked down at Sophia and said, "They're an old wizarding family. Very important too. In fact, you're related to them." He paused, and looked more closely at the girl. "When I first saw you, I wasn't too sure, but know that I think about it, you _do_ look a lot like him. You have the cheekbones." Puzzled, Sophia asked, "Who do I look like?"

Hagrid's face darkened. "Sirius Black, o' course. He's quite a bad man. Locked up in Azkaban for betraying a boy's parents to You-Know-Who."

Sophia was even more nonplussed. "Wait, wait, wait – what's this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense? Could you please tell me all of this? I'm getting a headache trying to figure all of this out."

And so Hagrid explained to Sophia the Wizarding World. She learned all about Voldemort, Harry Potter, and everything else she needed to know. Sophia took all of this to heart, and was glad to be in the company of someone so knowledgeable of her new world. Hagrid was talking about her family, the Blacks, when he mentioned Slytherin House. "The Blacks have a reputation of being a Slytherin legacy family - nearly everyone in the family had been in Slytherin. It shows, too. Slytherin is the house of Death Eaters."

"You've told me that twice already," Sophia said. She was starting to get impatient about getting her wand. "Can we get my wand now? I'm a bit full." Hagrid's face lit up in remembrance and soon the pair set off toward Ollivander's Wand Emporium. Sophia was overwhelmed at the sheer amount of boxes in the building – it looked as if the entire store was built of them. She was admiring the view when an old man walked toward the counter. "Hello, I'm Mr. Ollivander. You're here to get your wand, correct?" Sophia nodded. "Let me see if I have anything for you." Mr. Ollivander took a good look at the girl and then went into one of his many columns of wand boxes. He finally came back, a box in hand. "I think this is the one that will fit you. It's Vine, Unicorn Hair, 10 and ¾ inches, Unyielding. Try it." Sophia gingerly took the wand into her hands. The wand glowed, causing Sophia to emit a gasp. Mr. Ollivander smiled and said, "I knew it would work. The moment you walked in that wand was vibrating in its box. It wants you."

Sophia smiled at the thought. For once she was wanted.


End file.
